Lucky (Om and Ishu) Episode 14

Hello Ishqbaaz-ians 🙂 How are you guys doing today? I hope all of you have a bright and happy day 🙂
Link to previous episodes: https://www.tellyupdates.com/lucky-om-ishu-episode-13/
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EPISODE 14: LUCKY
ISHU’S PERSPECTIVE

I went straight to the academy hoping to find it empty in the dead of night. ‘Lucky for me that I had an extra set of keys with me!’ I thought while opening the door. Surprisingly it was already open and I stepped into the big dark space. A single light was on in the cabin above and I smiled happily, guessing it was the Director. Dumping my bag at the stairs itself, I tiptoed towards his office. Soft jazz played through the space and I opened the door a crack to see what he was up to.

“You won’t be able to frighten me, Ishu”, he said with a smile in his voice. Looking up from the scripts he was reading, he gave me a cute smile. His bronze hair was as messy as ever and he looked as bright and mellow as I knew him. He stood up and walked to me to envelop me in a bear hug. “So, how are you doing, little one?” he asked good-naturedly. The song playing on his speakers ended and another one began. I recognized the tune and looked up at him in surprise. “Isn’t this Ed Sheeran’s Kiss Me?” I asked with wide eyes and he nodded a little in reply. Moving one hand from my shoulder to my waist and the other to hold my hand up, he prepared me to waltz. The beats filled the room and he raised an eyebrow, making sure I was ready. And then he carefully led me to sway and twirl. My dancing skills were no surprise to the Director.
“Settle down with me,
Cover me up,
Cuddle me in…

Lie down with me,
And hold me in your arms…
And your heart’s against my chest,
Lips pressed to my neck…
I’ve fallen for your eyes,
But they don’t know me yet…
And with a feeling I’ll forget, I’m in love now.
Kiss me like you wanna be loved,
You wanna be loved,
You wanna be loved…
This feels like falling in love,
Falling in love,
Falling in love…”
The words and the soft voice reminded me of the one guy I didn’t want to think about at all. Om was the only one who dominated my thoughts for a long time now and I didn’t like this sad feeling growing through my torso and reaching out to every cell in my body. If only his father wasn’t my prime suspect for the possible kidnap of my parents. The Director raised a questioning eyebrow at me and I pasted a fake smile on my face and twirled around again.
“Settle down with me,
And I’ll be your safety,
You’ll be my lady…
I was made to keep your body warm,
But I’m cold as the wind blows,
So hold me in your arms…
Oh no…
Your heart’s against my chest,
Lips pressed to my neck…
I’ve fallen for your eyes,
But they don’t know me yet…
And with this feeling I’ll forget, I’m in love now.
Kiss me like you wanna be loved,
You wanna be loved,
You wanna be loved…
This feels like falling in love,
Falling in love,
Falling in love…”
The music changed to a wee bit faster pace and we changed our steps with it. Holding our hands at an arm’s length, we came close and went back again. I even managed to falter once but the Director supported me carefully. He had a habit of being extra protective when it came to me. It felt good and I smiled at him, for real this time. It would have been a normal night, if not for the fact that one of my favorite songs was turning to sound ominous because of that long haired devil!
“Yeah, I’ve been feeling everything,
From hate to love,
From love to lust,
From lust to truth,
I guess that’s how I know you…
So hold you… close…
So help you give it up.
Kiss me like you wanna be loved,
You wanna be loved,

You wanna be loved…
This feels like falling in love,
Falling in love,
Falling in love…”
As the words faded away, the Director noticed the lost look on my face and he jerked me a little to make me aware of my surroundings. “It’s that long haired guy, isn’t it?” he asked out of the blue. He surprised me so much that I could do nothing but hiccup in response. “Oh come on! I saw the way you look at each other”, he explained in his defense.
“You saw us together one time! How can you assume something like that?” I almost ripped out his head for this weird statement. He gave a sheepish grin and told me, “Actually, it was two. And I’m elder to you, so that means I’m wiser and more experienced than you. So don’t question my acumen in these matters. Okay?” He spoke with an exaggerated seniority complex and I elbowed him slightly for that.
“Five years elder to me! And you think you’re a wise old man?” I teased him. It dissolved the seriousness and made him forget about his stupid guess. But there was something he didn’t forget. Holding my arm lightly he turned me to face him. “Did you tell Anika before coming back?” The stern deep voice gave me pause while I lowered my eyes guiltily.
“I told Om to tell everyone. I didn’t want to face anyone else. It would have been too emotional for me to handle”, I said in a small voice. He put a hand on my head in his unique way of comforting me. “What is troubling you Ishu?” he asked bluntly. I don’t know how he came to know about my moods and thoughts, but I knew it would be useless to lie. So I sat down on the chair and he sat next to me.
“I think Tej Singh Oberoi is the person behind my parents’ possible kidnap. Or it could even be Shakti Singh Oberoi.” My statement was met with shocked silence. When he did find his voice, he countered me, “Ishu, that’s a serious accusation. Why did you think so?”
Do you remember, I once told you I left notes outside for the guy who left bags of money outside my house? I found one of those in Tej uncle’s study. But just before that I saw Shakti uncle leaving from there. So, there are a few possibilities. First, Shakti uncle did something bad and Tej uncle tries to cover up for his younger brother, but he felt guilty later. So he left the money for me. Second, someone else planted it there for some reason that I don’t know yet. Third, he did it out of goodwill after knowing I was living alone, but I don’t know how that can be likely.” My forehead was crumpled with the puzzle and he smoothed it out.

After a long pause to think over the info I just shared, I continued, “Anyways, I didn’t want Om to get dragged in the middle of this. He’s so good at heart and he loves his family so much that I felt kinda bad to be the reason for his misery. So I decided to leave that home ASAP. But I’ll have to say, I liked them all. Rudra and Shivaay and Saumya and Prinku… they’re all really sweet. And Dadi is so cute. And both the aunties and uncles too! We had Lohri celebrations today and they never left me alone. The two of them even personally introduced me to a lot of people!” While I went on chattering, the Director watched me with a bittersweet expression.
I stopped abruptly and asked him what was wrong. A sad smile came over his features as he ran a hand over my head softly and said, “I’ve waited to see you like this for a long time. Now that it’s happening, I don’t know how to react. I’m just very happy for you Ishu”, he said so softly that I had to lean closer to listen. But after hearing this, I rushed to change the topic to stunts lined up for me and upcoming auditions.
No matter how much I changed, I knew the bitter truth that the past always came back to haunt you and there’s no way to move on until you find an answer for all your questions. Of course there was one way, but that wasn’t coming to me. So I had to be patient and let time find me on its own. And that was exactly what I was doing. But now I was afraid for another innocent person getting trapped within this rat chase.

OM’S PERSPECTIVE

What was wrong with her? How could she do something like this? I kept up my internal tirade as I walked across the hall towards Shivaay’s room. Her words from before replayed in my head, “Omkara, I have to get back to work now. If I don’t, I might end up somewhere I don’t want to be.” There was fire in her eyes and I was too stunned to ask her anything more. The part that bugged me most was how she had said Omakara instead of just Om. I tried to not think about her, but it didn’t work.
I reached Shivaay’s room and on seeing the lights on, I expected him to be up as usual. I went in without knocking. The sight that met me was mystifying in a strange way. Shivaay’s laptop lay open on one end of the bed and on the other end, the most recent and celebrated couple cuddled into each other. Shivaay’s arms were protectively wrapped around Anika and her head was lying between his chest and shoulder as if she was listening to his heart for a lullaby.
I moved out immediately, respecting their privacy, and switched off the lights before locking the door from within and closing it. These two needed to set their head straight to pay attention to such details! I smiled a little thinking about how much trouble they had to go to simply accept their feelings for each other, but now that they had, every day was a magical one. I was very happy for Shivaay, but I was also very sad for Rudra as I saw him go towards Shivaay’s room in his crybaby form. He must have had a nightmare, I decided. I pulled him with me to my room and made him sleep there with me.
His sleeping face reminded me of an innocent baby faced girl, and memories from just the last night flooded my mind. I wonder where Ishu was now… I hope she reached home safely. I wanted to call her, but decided against it. My thoughts drifted to how I couldn’t bring myself to paint anything when I had wanted that so badly.
I picked up a pen from the bedside table and drew a smiley on top of my hand. Looking at it made me feel better and I drifted to sleep in no time.

SNEAK PEEK: Shivaay finds something and he becomes angry about it. Om also shouts at someone.

So people, what do you think??